There has been much discussion of the case for investing in alternative property; assets that are not the standard office, retail unit or industrial estate. So many column inches have been devoted toward the appeal of the leisure sector that investing in buildings like cinemas, restaurants, bowling alleys or stadia now feels almost mainstream!

However, the conversation seems to dry up when talking about hotels. Industry analyst AM:PM estimates that there are around 14,200 commercially-operated hotels in the United Kingdom, but institutional interest in these properties is restrained; only 2 percent of the MSCI IPD Property Index was attributed to hotels in 2016. If the horizon is broadened out to Europe, this figure rises to almost 600,000 establishments, but only a small proportion is owned by institutional investors.

LGIM Real Assets has been actively investing in the hotel sector, with around £860 million (€952 million) currently deployed into this asset class. H